Fans of Chicago's Material Issue cite the late
singer/guitarist (and early Green member) Jim Ellison's
seemingly effortless knack for writing brisk, unforgettable
hard-pop tunes. Detractors point to his annoyingly affected
British accent and that his songs (while enjoyable) can
seem a bit too calculated. There's something to be said for
both arguments, but there's no doubt that, at its best,
Material Issue was responsible for some of the '90s'
juiciest Big Star/Cheap Trick-style power pop at a time
when it was well out of fashion.

The 12-inch Material Issue EP (produced by Jeff
Murphy of Shoes) is a great beginning, six songs filled
with punky energy, enthusiastic performances (by Ellison,
bassist Ted Ansani and drummer Mike Zelenko, who would go
on to pound the skins on a few Shoes discs) and hooks up
the wazoo. "She's Going Through My Head," the riff-happy "A
Very Good Thing" and "Chance of a Lifetime" are
standouts.

Material Issue continued to record with Murphy,
completing International Pop Overthrow before
signing to a major label. As befits the genre, this power
pop gem contains no less than four songs with girls' names
in the titles. Although Ellison's occasional inclination
towards quantity over quality makes some of the 14 tracks
less memorable than others, "Valerie Loves Me," "Renee
Remains the Same," "This Far Before" and "Very First Lie"
are should-be singles of the first order. (Issued to radio
around the same time was the promo-only 11 Supersonic
Hit Explosions, which features a lovely acoustic
version of "Diane" and the otherwise unavailable "The Girl
Who Never Falls in Love," along with covers of Paul
Simon's "The Boxer," Thin Lizzy's "Cowboy Song" and
Sweet's "Blockbuster.")

The sophomore jinx bit hard on Destination
Universe (co-produced, as was International Pop
Overthrow, by Murphy), which suffers from a serious
lack of strong tunes. The number that received the most
attention  the silly "What Girls Want" ("...a man
with lips just like Mick Jagger / Rod Stewart's hair and
Keith Richards' stagger")  sounds like Tommy
Roe's "Dizzy" rocked up a bit. Just to hammer home his
familiarity with '60s/'70s AM radio, Ellison acknowledges
the riff from the Edison Lighthouse's "Love Grows (Where My
Rosemary Goes)" in his own "When I Get This Way (Over
You)." Another bad sign: rewriting the first
album's "Crazy" and calling it "Girl From Out of This
World." Only the sweetly affecting "Next Big Thing" and the
powerfully poppy "Whole Lotta You" stand between
Destination Universe and creative oblivion.

The trio then came back strong with its finest album,
Freak City Soundtrack, produced by glam/bubblepop
guru Mike Chapman. New versions of the debut EP's "She's
Goin' Thru My Head" and "A Very Good Thing" are the
cornerstones of the disc, which also features a very cool
cover of the Green Pajamas' late-'80s pearl "Kim the
Waitress" and such nifty Ellison originals as the
hyper "Goin' Through Your Purse" and the manic "Help Me
Land"  two minutes of slashing power chords, a
frenzied vocal and Zelenko's totally out-of-control
drumming. Freak City Soundtrack is an unqualified
triumph.

The live (and longer than listed) Goin' Through Your
Purse is very nearly a Material Issue best-of,
containing as it does sweaty performances of "Valerie Loves
Me," "Kim the Waitress," "Diane," "What Girls Want" and
five more, all recorded in front of a rabid home town
crowd. You can almost hear the beer being spilled.